Although the rebellion has been quelled, the defense of Jinling has not been relaxed at all. Just entering the city, you have to go through several inspections. You have to check the road when you pass, and you have to search your luggage. Then, when you enter the city, you can see a group of troops patrolling everywhere, and from time to time you will stop some suspicious people and ask.

Of course, all this has nothing to do with Li Ling and the others. As the imperial court official, he came here again by the order of the governor. After he revealed his identity, he was respectfully welcomed by the defenders at the city gate, and then someone led the way and took them to the inn to settle down.

The prosperity of Jinling City can also be seen from the official inn. This inn is not only extremely large in area, but also has a grand atmosphere inside and outside, and is not under the inns in the capital specially prepared for the accommodation of high-ranking officials. Then, when entering it, it is divided into independent courtyards, and there are almost no guest rooms for ordinary inns. After they check in, the wine and food delivered are of high quality, which is much better than what Li Ling had in the county government.

And this is the entertainment specifications that Jiangnan had just experienced a drastic change. If it were placed at other times, I am afraid that all arrangements would be more advanced.

If you change to an honest official, you may have an attack when facing such an arrangement. However, Li Ling has no idea about this. The benefits are naturally to enjoy it. Then he called the guy who served them and asked him about the situation in Jinling during this period.

"Our Jinling is as solid as a rock, and there are still tens of thousands of elite soldiers to guard. The rebels naturally cannot harm us at all. That is, the streets are a little tighter to prevent the thieves who sneaked into the city earlier from causing trouble." Like many people who asked, this person is also very eloquent.

"Oh? Did you catch these thieves?" Li Ling asked with interest with a flash of eyes.

"Yes, in the past few months, twenty or thirty guys with bad intentions have been taken down by the government army. A few of them are so brave that they want to go to the Guancang to set fire, but they were killed on the spot."

During the friend's story, Li Ling realized that the reason why Jinling is so tight inside and outside is because there have been many incidents before. Of course, he didn't know much about the specific details. When asked why the Jinling defenders did not have too many actions in this section, this person was stammering and couldn't tell the reason.

This is actually a question that Li Ling is very concerned about. With the strength of the rebels at that time, as long as tens of thousands of troops were launched in Jinling, they could completely quell the rebellion like the autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves, and it would not last until two months later. But as a result, although the Jinling defenders still made great efforts to quell the rebellion in the end, the actual troops were still not used, and only a few troops such as Fengziying were quelling the rebellion outside.

The real rebellion was to quell the rebellion by relying on government troops like Shanziying to free up. This was a bit unreasonable, but the other party was a young man at the post station, so he naturally couldn't tell the reason. Li Ling did not bother about this matter anymore, so he asked another question: "By the way, who are the other adults in the inn this time?"

"In addition to your County Magistrate Li, there are also County Magistrate Wang from Jiangning, County Magistrate Feng from Jurong, County Magistrate Wei from Gaoyou, Yangzhou Prefecture..." He reported more than a dozen magistrates in anger, but Li Ling frowned slightly when he heard it: "They are all magistrates from all over the country, where are the magistrates?"

"I haven't seen any prefects here. Maybe they are busy with official business and have not arrived yet."

Li Ling shook his head, this is wrong. The official document mentioned that they had to arrive in Jinling before September 13 to discuss important matters. Today it was 12, so there was no reason why those prefects from all over the country could not be dragged on.

But it would be even more unreasonable to only invite the county magistrates from small places to come here to discuss important matters. The situation in Jiangnan is not something that they are the seventh-rank small officials at all. Even if Li Ling is a special sixth-rank county magistrate, he still has no more power.

Seeing that he couldn't ask more from the other party, Li Ling sent the clerk away and then had a meal with the others to rest. Perhaps these questions will be revealed after meeting the governor tomorrow.

However, before each of them returned to their rooms, Li Ling was still careful and called Wan Shenji in front of him: "Lao Wan, does the Imperial City Department have any suspicion here?"

Wan Shenji nodded. The Imperial City Department now looks weak on the surface, but the tentacles are already spread all over the world. There are their people in the southwest, and Jiangnan is naturally no exception. At key points like Jinling, there are even spies secretly following officials in case of chaos.

"Then you will contact the spies here tomorrow. I want a specific action on the important officials here after the chaos begins." Li Ling immediately ordered.

"Sir... Are you suspecting that someone in Jinling City secretly colluded with the Luotian Sect?" Wan Shenji was shocked and asked in a low voice.

"Yes, I always felt a strange feeling when I thought about this chaos. Also, the reaction of Jinling was too unreasonable. How could I not send troops to quell the local chaos in time? So I believe there must be some of the reasons behind this, and I must find out."

"But lord is going to see the governor of Wen tomorrow, and Mo Yun didn't come with me. I left, isn't there anyone guarding you?" Li Ling's words made Wan Shenji feel very uneasy and worried about his safety.

"It's not just me who can meet the governor. What can happen? Take a step back and say that we are all in Jinling City. If the governor has problems, it's actually the same if you or not by my side."

This was indeed reasonable, and Wan Shenji no longer insisted. He immediately put his fists on his face and then went back to his room to rest. However, this night, Li Ling was still feeling uneasy and thought about it. It was not until after the third day that he fell asleep.

...

The next morning, Li Ling, who had put on a green official robe, left the yard accompanied by two officials. Yang Qingxiao did not go out with him. After all, she was a woman, and now there was no need for women in the officialdom. It would only cause more trouble if she took her there. Then she met two other officials of the same identity in the reception room at the front of the inn.

When three county magistrates with similar identities meet, they will naturally be treated with a greeting. They each have their names and origins, but they are Zhang You, the magistrate of Taicang County, Suzhou Prefecture, and Wei Changfeng, the magistrate of Gaoyou County, Yangzhou. Both of them are more than ten years older than Li Ling. They have also heard about some things about him in Jiangnan, so they naturally praise him.

At that moment, a few people walked together and headed straight to the governor's yamen, which was only two streets away from the inn.

After half an hour, a group of more than ten people walked to the front of the yamen. After taking out the official quota, they were able to enter it smoothly and were led to a side hall to sit there. There were already several county magistrates from all over the south of Jiangnan who had the same identity, so naturally they were polite and then waited.

The status of the governor is much higher than that of the county magistrates, so even if they were invited, it was natural to wait for a while. No one complained. But someone, like Li Ling, raised doubts when he saw that they were all county magistrates from all over the place.

No one had a clear idea about this question, and finally the mature Wei Changfeng ended with a sentence: "Since the governor called you and me to Jinling, he must have his considerations."

It took more than an hour to wait. It was almost noon and someone's stomach started to roar, and a shout came from the outside: "Governor is here."

When everyone heard this, everyone present stood up to greet them. Li Ling looked out the door and saw a middle-aged man with a slightly thin but extraordinary temperament and light steps coming. Although there was a smile on his face, the pressure on everyone was quite considerable. He just paused in front of the door and swept his eyes to everyone. Many county magistrates who were looking at him were all lowered their heads and dared not look at each other.

Only Li Ling, who had really come into contact with too many powerful figures in the capital, was not suppressed by his demeanor. He even looked at him, lowered his eyes slightly, and bowed down with everyone: "Xiaguan and others have met Master Futai."

Wen Ming's eyes also stopped on Li Ling for a moment, then waved his hand: "Don't be too polite for everyone, sit down and talk." He walked forward and sat down at the main seat of the head.

Several civil and military officials followed him in, and they all sat down according to their identities. As a result, Li Ling and other county magistrates sat down at the lower head, looking a little humble.

With the gaze of the county magistrates a little nervous, Wen Ming first coughed dryly before laughing: "My county magistrates have been here for a long time. Now everything inside and outside Jinling is complicated, and I am busy until now, so I have come a little late. I hope you don't take it a word."

"The Lord Futai is so serious. The lower officials and others know that the Lord is busy with all kinds of things every day, so it is only right to wait a minute." Someone immediately expressed his opinion.

Afterwards, others followed up, saying that they were not anxious, and even if they waited until night, they would not have any dissatisfaction, etc., so they lowered their posture. This made Governor Wen and others very satisfied. They laughed and communicated with them. They cared about the situation after the disaster in each county, but the scene was quite harmonious.

After such a greeting, Wen Ming turned to the topic: "My county magistrates must have been a little confused about the reason why I invited you to see you. Then let me tell you when the truth is. I invite you to come today. I have important things to discuss with you, and I hope you can get your help."

"I dare not, Master Fu Tai has his orders, so the officials and others should obey it." As one of them made a statement, the others followed suit and nodded and said yes.

Seeing this, Wen Ming was even more satisfied and said, "That's the best. It's important. I will no longer go around the circle. The court has a destiny. We must strictly investigate the identity of the Luotian Sect traitor in various parts of the south of the Yangtze River and take all the relevant people. There must be no omissions! In addition, this year's taxes will not be reduced due to the chaos. Now it is already autumn. It is said that it is time to collect taxes, money and food from the people within one or two months!"
Chapter completed!